I’m back from Vienna! I spent most of the time in the archive doing research, but I tried to make the most of the time I had left to explore the city. This was important to me because I had felt rather lonely and depressed during previous research stays there, especially in winter. I made a point to eat out every evening (instead of holing up in my hotel room with cheap fast food), no matter how tired and sore I felt. It sometimes cost me quite an effort to go into a restaurant and ask for a table for one, but it was worth it to make sure I had eaten well and taken care of myself.
@ … said the butcher to the cow 
@ Akakiko 
@ Akakiko 
@ Maschu Maschu 
@ Maschu Maschu 
@ Cafe Klimt
Vienna is one of my favourite cities. I love the Baroque palaces, the Secession art, and the coffeehouse culture. I can spent hours just wandering around the city centre, looking into the windows of the countless antique shops or admiring the gorgeous turn of the century facades.
Since I’ve been to Vienna a couple of times, I’m a bit eclectic with my sightseeing. This time I looked up a list of vintage and second hand shops. I went to Catrinette, the carla mittersteig and Bootik54. Obviously everything I had to buy had to fit into my suitcase, so I refrained from buying all the pretty things. Of which there were many. Catrinette is a beautifully curated vintage store. The owner is an art historian, and it shows. I loved the 50s and 60s furniture … if only I had the funds to buy them and get them back to Germany! The carla is huge and has so many things! It’s literally four warehouses of furniture, household items, accessories, books and clothes. The proceeds go to Caritas care projects. I ended up buying a wooden box with gorgeous intarsia that’s perfect fit for my dressing table. Bootik54 is purely a clothing store, full the the brim with everything from vintage jeans (and reworked vintage) to eccentric dresses to colourful accessories. I discovered a wool cape by a Viennese brand famous for winter clothing and a range of loden and traditional garb. This was probably the most frivolous purchase of my stay, but I don’t regret it at all!
On Friday I had some unexpected free time that I used to go to my favourite museum in Vienna, the Albertina. I make sure to visit there every time I’m in the city. The steep entrance fee is worth it for the inspiration and creative spark it gives me. There’s artwork there I’ve seen four or five times that still makes me pause and take a moment to sit down and marvel again and again. At the same time, I always discover new artists as well. This time I was wowed by the Niko Pirosmani exhibition. He’s an unknown Georgian artist who never received recognition during his lifetime and died homeless and poor. His naive art style (reminiscent of Henri Rousseau) inspired the likes of Marc Chagall and Natalia Goncharova.
Natalia Goranchova – The Peacock 
Franz Sedlacek – Ghosts on a Tree 
Emil Nolde – Moonlit Night 
Alex Katz – Black Hat II 
Niko Pirosmani – Actress Margarita
In the evening, I met up with my parents who went to Vienna as exhibitors at the old music fair Resonanzen. We ate at Plachutta Gasthaus zur Oper. I had the best roast beef with onion of my life (and I’m quite snobby when it comes to this particular dish) and heavenly pancakes with apricot jam as dessert. It was SO GOOD, guys.
Until next time, Vienna, you’re always worth a visit!
7 responses to “Travel Diary: Vienna 2019”
OMG,… Apfelstrudel und cafe haeuser…. meine Liebliengssachen!!!!I envy you 🙂
What were you researching? those old books look really interesting.
You gave me some good ideas for things to do next time I visit – the vintage stores and museum and …… Have you already visited the Parliament and the Volkstheater?
Thanks for sharing your travel, it was lovely to read and see!!
Austria just has the best sweet dishes, doesn’t it?
These are administrative documents from the 1770s. I’m writing my thesis about the organization/installation of Austrian power in a region in South-Eastern Europe with a focus on social and economical processes.
I’m glad you got some inspiration from my post! I passed by both the Volkstheater and the parliament, but I’ve never been inside either of them. I have to visit them next time, thank you for the recommendation!
Thank you! I like Austria and the 18th century 🙂
…and I just booked a trip to Vienna 😉
Awesome! I hope you have a great time! 😀
[…] though, am I right? I’m in love with this thrift store find from Vienna! I already showed you a crappy Iphone picture of this cape, but I thought I’d post a couple with me actually wearing it. Isn’t the […]
[…] about artists that I didn’t know for the most part. For example, I quite enjoyed their Niko Pirosmani exhibition in January this year! Right now, you can see one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of Albrecht […]
[…] It was incredibly important to me that I eat healthy and regularly during my stay in the archive. The first time I visited there, I’d stay until closing time and then pick up a burger on the way back to my hotel. Later I’d raid the snacks machine in the hotel lobby. Every day. It wasn’t good. Consequently, I made it a point on every further visit to eat healthy food, and I definitely notice a difference in my daily disposition. For lunch I usually ate a pre-packaged salad from the Billa supermarket. In the evening I’d hit up some of the restaurants I already went to in January. […]